20060221
    The US faces a strange dilemma as the debate over whether a state owned company of the United Arab Emirates takes over the daily operations- but not the security of- several American ports. The dilemma is that the UAE is a strong and close US ally in the Middle East that also has the misfortune of being a sometimes haven for Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
    This dilemma is far more complex than the media of the US wants to make it out to be. What the media ignores is that the UAE has supported the US and its coalition partners almost unequivocally since Operation Desert Storm. The UAE has hosted US military forces before and since that time with no acts of terrorism against those forces. The UAE has also participated in and contributed forces to international coalitions, including the Arab contingent during Operation Desert Storm.
    This participation and alliance shows that the UAE intends to maintain an open and close alliance with the West, especially the US. To dismiss the UAE as a state tied to terrorism ignores the importance of having a good ally among the states of the Arabian Peninsula. The strategic and regional importance of the UAE cannot be ignored in any decisions involving that country, and the UAE has demonstrated good faith in its ties with the West.
    Yet, the other side of the facts cannot be ignored. The UAE has, and likely does, harbor terrorist elements within its borders. One of the 9-11 hijackers was from the UAE. The UAE acknowledged the Taliban as a legitimate government while it was in power. All of these facts are true- and troubling after a fashion- but they must be considered in the context of the facts previously presented.
    Now, should a government owned company of the UAE be allowed to conduct the daily operations of some US ports? That question can really be answered by the nature of the operations, which the media is not reporting on. Perhaps the answer to such a question can be best answered by looking at other business arrangements that involve foreign nations and governments, some of which have a far greater interest in doing harm to the US than the UAE.
    This is not to say that the deal that would give the UAE this control should go forward, but it also should not be blocked because of an uninformed public outcry based on a media blitz that does not present or consider all of the facts, and one of the facts that must be considered is that the US needs the UAE as an ally, and denying business and trade relations with an ally always puts a strain on such a relationship.
DLH
